Uninspired

I have been neglecting this space lately and I'm not sure why.  I guess I could say that I've been busy, and that my time on the computer has been spent on school work (which is totally true), but honestly I just haven't been making it a priority lately.  I don't like feeling guilty that I haven't been blogging, but that's what always happens.  I constantly tell myself throughout the day "oh I should blog about that" - when Eliza does something new and/or "bloggable", or when I think about some topic that interests me and want the opinion from my fellow bloggy friends... and then I *don't* blog, and then I forget what it was I was going to write about, and then I feel guilty for not having written it down when I thought of it in the first place... and that was a run-on sentence.  Which is very much how I feel like my life has been lately - one big run-on sentence that isn't very organized or coherent!

So, yeah, that's all to say that I will be back.  :)

WW: Making jelly from our grapes!

21/22 Month Update

Eliza is 22 months old!  She is going to be two (TWO?  Did I just say TWO?!!) on November 14th.  And this mama is going to need a pause button, RIGHT QUICK.  

So here are some bullets about what's been going on in The World of Eliza over the last two months, and in between I put some of my favorite pics of my girl over the last month or so.

• Eliza is talking in very short sentences - one of her favorite is "Eliza's _____."  She likes to identify what is hers.  She hasn't figured out the word "mine" yet, but I'm sure it is just a matter of time.  Another favorite is "More ____ please!" or "Yes please mama" when she wants something. She's picked up many other phrases and sentences lately, too.  Too many to remember right now... but a couple of my favorites are: "Eliza do it by self", and "Eliza/Mama put it/milk/water in there!" (can be either a command or a statement of fact).

Playing her xylophone - the girl's already got talent!

• She is much better about not throwing her food - this is new in the last two months or so.  She used to throw her food 99% of the time after she was finished eating and now she simply hands her plate (or any food she doesn't want) to me or hubby instead of throwing it.  If she does throw any, we ask her to pick it up after she is done eating, and she (usually) complies and actually seems to like picking it up and taking it to the garbage. "Throw away!", she says.

Helping mama and grandma pick some grapes and some peppers from the garden

• Eliza is so so sweet.  She likes to lay her head on my chest after she wakes up from nap and then she asks me to sing to her.  It is so adorable.  She just needs some time to wake up, and she wants to do it in the arms of her mama.  Makes me feel so lucky and just so so happy to be her mom.  I love my girl.  She is also an excellent hugger, and will hug you and say "hug" (which sounds like "huck").

"Wearing" Grandma's earrings

• This girl's intelligence is freaky.  You only need to say or do something *one time* for her to remember it and repeat it from then on.  She knows so many things, from numbers and letters (a few!), to even our first names!  Tonight hubby asked her what mama's name is and she very clearly said "Ella"!  I didn't realize my parents had names other than 'mom' and 'papa' until I was like 10.  Or, something like that.

First time on a horse - 22 months old - she was a complete NATURAL!

• She says "yep!" now, as well as "sure" - I guess that's what we say, so she says it too!?  It's so cute.  And I think I heard her say "nope" today... which, I guess is at least slightly different than just the plain old "no" that we hear so often... ;)   And it's pretty cute, too.

Taking the light rail with Mama

• Still nursing and still enjoying every minute - though I am ready to transition to no nighttime nursing.  We'll be working on that next month...  we even bought a book that talks about it and we've been reading it a lot lately to prepare her.  She is ready.  It will be hard at first, but she will be okay.

Hair cut #2

• Bedtime shifted a bit this summer, it had started to become later and later, which is not something hubby and I were fans of... but we rolled with it.  We are trying to ease her into an earlier bedtime in preparation for the fall semester, when I will have work to do and precious little time in which to do it - I do count on those few hours when she's asleep (and I'm not) at night and during nap time to focus on schoolwork.  I prefer to focus on my girl - not my computer screen - when she's awake!

Running around near the central library in downtown

• Game playing has been a new thing lately.  Eliza is figuring out what is funny (and what is not funny, too) or what will get a laugh or a rise out of someone.  She plays games with us, makes funny faces, and just acts silly with us.  She is my little goofball!

Out to breakfast with mama and dada at the cabin

• She is so very observant; nothing slips by her.  I never doubt her when she calls out that she saw something in the car or when we're out walking (or even when she sees something on the page of a book that I didn't notice).  And her "uh-oh!"s are almost always spot on - so I trust her when I hear an "uh-oh!" from the other room.  It usually means something has spilled, she has found some cat vomit (yeah, gross), or she has peed on the floor ;)

Tea time at great aunt Mary's house

We had a really fun summer together, and while I might not have paid as much attention to my school work as I should have, I soaked up the time with my girl, and that is never something I will regret!

Eliza, I love you more every day! 

xoxo

Mama  

Wordless Wednesday: A Visit from Patrick (and his parents, too!)

WSWA vs. WSA

(Today I actually have a what she ate photo!)

{edamame}

{pb pretzels}

{smoked salmon}

{pineapple leftover from a fruit salad}

{vanilla yogurt + berries}

{center: chocolate covered sunflower seeds}

Not surprisingly, the salmon, sunflower seeds, and the edamame are gone :)  

I overheard a toddler mama the other day who was worrying that her son didn't eat veggies and was wondering how could she "make him"?  I don't think there is any way - at least no good way - to force a toddler to eat a vegetable, or any food they do not want to eat.  The only thing we can do is offer our kids nutritious food options over and over AND OVER again ask that they try it.  Right?  I think that it is their job, their right, to decide whether or not they want to continue eating it.  

Eliza loves peas and broccoli, but she's not so keen on other veggies she is offered, and that's okay.  But does that mean that I only offer her broccoli and peas as a veggie option?  No.  I serve her whatever veggie we are eating that night, and she will usually give it a try and dramatically spit it back out on her plate.  And then we say "thanks for trying it, Eliza!"

Wordless Wednesday, State Fair Edition

(words needed here to say: I feel you, Mama)